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Netflix

Netflix Review

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Bottom Line:
 Free trial & free streaming movies
Full Review
 NetFlix invented the online movie rental business in 1999 and has been a leader ever since. With over 85,000 titles and 41 distribution centers throughout the U.S., they offer more movies than anyone else. They claim to reach more than 90% of their members with generally one business day delivery (our research has found that members usually do get their DVDs within one day and almost always within two). NetFlix has put a lot of time and money into developing a fantastic site that gives you all the tools you can imagine and more for picking the right movie. They offer free online movie trailers, critics' reviews, user reviews, your friends' reviews, a recommendation engine based on how you've rated other movies that you've seen, and have recently added the capability to watch over 4,000 movie titles directly on your PC. This new feature allows its members to instantly watch over 4,000 movie and TV titles on their PC instantly. This is included in all plans at no additional cost. The service allows you to stream certain titles directly to your PC so you don't have to download them (but you do have to be connected to the internet). The number of hours you can watch per month will depend on your plan and will range from 5 hours per month for the cheapest $4.99 per month plan to 24 hours per month for the more expensive $23.99 per month plan. This is a nice addition to their service, although watching movies on a computer is not exactly a great viewing experience and you cannot download the movies, only stream them. They also do a great job with customer service, offering an automated self-help system as well as email and phone support if you have any problems.

NetFlix offers an array of plans to choose from, all following the NetFlix-pioneered model of keeping each DVD as long as you like and getting a new one shipped to you when you send one back to them. This enables them to offer free shipping and no late fees so you'll never pay more than your monthly subscription cost. All plans charge a monthly fee and vary by the number of DVDs you can have out at one time and the maximum number of DVDs you can rent per month. All plans come with a 14 day free trial for new NetFlix customers and you can cancel any time so it's a no risk proposition. The plans are:

$4.99/month (1 at a time, 2 max/month, 5 hours streaming movies on PC/month)
$8.99/month (1 at a time, Unlimited/month, 9 hours streaming movies on PC/month)
$13.99/month (2 at a time, Unlimited/month, 14 hours streaming movies on PC/month)
$16.99/month (3 at a time, Unlimited/month, 17 hours streaming movies on PC/month)
$23.99/month (4 at a time, Unlimited/month, 24 hours streaming movies on PC/month)

NetFlix's most popular plan is the $16.99/month offering. (NetFlix offers additional plans you can switch to once you sign up for the free trial - visit our FAQs for details.)

NetFlix's sole focus is on movies, and they are the best at online movie delivery. However, if you want to also rent games with the same service, you should go with someone else such as DVD Avenue that rents both. NetFlix is also not for you if you want to rent adult DVDs as they have stayed out of that part of the business. Additionally, NetFlix cannot match Blockbuster's ability to offer in-store movie exchange and free in-store rental coupons as part of their service. If games or adult movies aren't of interest to you and you have no desire to ever visit the local Blockbuster again, NetFlix is the best choice you will find.

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Service Details:

Monthly Price: $4.99-$23.99
Delivery Speed: 1-2 days, instant for streaming movies
Shipping Fees: None
Late Fees: None
Free Trial: 14 days
Customer Service: Email & Phone

NextAdvisor Online DVD Rental Blog Headlines

Netflix shipments are back on track
After a three day shipping delay last week, Netflix is shipping DVDs at their normal pace once again. Any backlogged shipments should have been sent out on Friday. All customers whose shipments were delayed will receive a 15% discount on their next bill, and any new customers who were using the service on a free [...]

Netflix profiles feature will not be discontinued after all
In mid-June, Netflix announced plans to eliminate a feature which allows multiple users within a single account to maintain separate profiles and movie queues.  Disappointed customers responded by urging Netflix to reconsider this decision, and it has. A post on the Netflix Community Blog recently announced that the complaints from customers have persuaded Netflix not [...]

The Internet can save you gas money!
On Earth Day, we posted some tips for living a more eco-friendly lifestyle with the help of online services. One suggestion was to attend an online college or university, since it reduces the environmental impact of getting an education. ABC recently ran a story informing viewers that online classes are gaining in popularity as a [...]

Netflix streaming set top box review
Netflix announced the launch of a new streaming video player that will allow subscribers to view over 10,000 movies and televisions shows on demand over the Internet. The set top box is powered by Roku and will retail for about $99 when it is released later this year. Since we have yet to test the [...]

Netflix continues to innovate, explores movie streaming over Xbox Live
Online DVD rental company, Netflix, has begun surveying subscribers to determine their interest in being able to stream movies over Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. In theory, such a service would allow Xbox 360 users to stream movies from Netflix’s title library through a broadband Intternet connection. Netflix is not releasing the results of the survey [...]

Netflix issues apology, 5% discount
Online DVD rental service Netflix is issuing a 5% discount to all subscribers as a result of a technical issue in their automated shipping system on Monday March 24 that caused all DVD deliveries to be delayed by one day. The discount was announced in an email sent to all subscribers this morning: Dear Joseph, As you may [...]

Best Buy to offer blu-ray rebate to HD DVD owners
The blu-ray high definition dvd format became the default standard format after rival HD DVD players were officially discontinued earlier this month.  This move rendered the HD DVD players little more than $400 paperweights since no additional movie titles would be launched in the format. Best Buy electronics stores are stepping in with a bit of [...]

Netflix to invest in expanding Blu-ray movie inventory
Netflix, our top rated online dvd rental service, expects to increase their blu-ray high definition dvd inventory by 1,300-1,500 titles including both new releases and older films. According to the company’s CFO, Barry McCarthy, high definition dvds only account for a small single digit percentage of movie rentals at Netflix.  The move to increase the number [...]

Blu-ray is last technology standing in high def dvd wars
Toshiba, the developer of the HD DVD technology, announced this week that it would be exiting the high definition dvd market and cease all production of HD DVD players and movies that play on them.  The announcement was a big win for rival high definition dvd techology blu-ray, which was developed by Sony, as it [...]

NetFlix beats Apple to the unlimited download punch
NetFlix announced today that they will allow unlimited streaming of movie and TV downloads as part of a revamp of their Watch Now streaming service.  This is likely a preemptive response to the new iTunes movie rental download service that is expected to be announced this week. Said NetFlix CEO and Founder Reed Hastings: We named our [...]